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大仲马所著小说《黑郁金香》以十七世纪荷兰资产阶级革命时期激烈的政治斗争与动荡生活为背景,描写一对青年男女的爱情故事：医生拜尔勒因故被捕入狱,在狱中与看守的女儿萝莎发生纯洁、真挚的感情,二人合作,培育出黑郁金香。

The Silmarillion, now published four years after the death of its author, is an account of the Elder Days, or the First Age of the World. In The Lord of the Rings were narrated the great events at the end of the Third Age; but the tales of The Silmarillion are legends deriving from a much deeper past, when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils. Not only, however, does The Silmarillion relate the events of a far earlier time than those of The Lord of the Rings; it is also, in all the essentials of its conception, far the earlier work. Indeed, although it was not then called The Silmarillion, it was already in being half a century ago; and in battered notebooks extending back to 1917 can still be read the earliest versions, often hastily pencilled, of the central stories of the mythology. But it was never published (though some indication of its content could be gleaned from The Lord of the Rings), and throughout my father's long life he never abandoned it, nor ceased even in his last years to work on it. In all that time The Silmarillion, considered simply as a large narrative structure, underwent relatively little radical change; it became long ago a fixed tradition, and background to later writings. But it was far indeed from being a fixed text, and did not remain unchanged even in certain fundamental ideas concerning the nature of the world it portrays; while the same legends came to be retold in longer and shorter forms, and in different styles. As the years passed the changes and variants, both in detail and in larger perspectives, became so complex, so pervasive, and so many-layered that a final and definitive version seemed unattainable. Moreover the old legends ('old' now not only in their derivation from the remote First Age, but also in terms of my father's life) became the vehicle and depository of his profoundest reflections. In his later writing mythology and poetry sank down behind his theological and philosophical preoccupations: from which arose incompatibilities of tone. On my father's death it fell to me to try to bring the work into publishable form. It became clear to me that to attempt to present, within the covers of a single book the diversity of the materials - to show The Silmarillion as in truth a continuing and evolving creation extending over more than half a century - would in fact lead only to confusion and the submerging of what is essential I set myself therefore to work out a single text selecting and arranging in such a way as seemed to me to produce the most coherent and internally self-consistent narrative. In this work the concluding chapters (from the death of Tъrin Turambar) introduced peculiar difficulties, in that they had remained unchanged for many years, and were in some respects in serious disharmony with more developed conceptions in other parts of the book. A complete consistency (either within the compass of The Silmarillion itself or between The Silmarillion and other published writings of my father's) is not to be looked for, and could only be achieved, if at all at heavy and needless cost. Moreover, my father came to conceive The Silmarillion as a compilation, a compendious narrative, made long afterwards from sources of great diversity (poems, and annals, and oral tales) that had survived in agelong tradition; and this conception has indeed its parallel in the actual history of the book, for a great deal of earlier prose and poetry does underlie it, and it is to some extent a compendium in fact and not only in theory. To this may be ascribed the varying speed of the narrative and fullness of detail in different parts, the contrast (for example) of the precise recollections of place and motive in the legend of Tъrin Turambar beside the high and remote account of the end of the First Age, when Thangorodrim was broken and Morgoth overthrown; and also some differences of tone and portrayal, some obscurities, and, here and there, some lack of cohesion. In the case of the Valaquenta, for instance, we have to assume that while it contains much that must go back to the earliest days of the Eldar in Valinor, it was remodelled in later times; and thus explain its continual shifting of tense and viewpoint, so that the divine powers seem now present and active in the world, now remote, a vanished order known only to memory. The book, though entitled as it must be The Silmarillion, contains not only the Quenta Silmarillion, or Silmarillion proper, but also four other short works. The Ainulindalл and Valaquenta, which are given at the beginning, are indeed closely related with The Silmarillion; but the Akallabкth and Of the Rings of Power, which appear at the end, are (it must to emphasised) wholly separate and independent. They are included according to my father's explicit intention; and by their inclusion is set forth the entire history is set forth from the Music of the Ainur in which the world began to the passing of the Ringbearers from the havens of Mithlond at the end of the Third Age. The number of names that occur in the book is very large, and I have provided a full index; but the number of persons (Elves and Men) who play an important part in the narrative of the First Age is very much smaller, and all of these will be found in the genealogical tables. In addition I have provided a table setting out the rather complex naming of the different Elvish peoples; a note on the pronunciation of Elvish names, and a list of some of the chief elements found in these names; and a map. It may be noted that the great mountain range in the east, Ered Luin or Ered Lindon, the Blue Mountains, appears in the extreme west of the map in The Lord of the Rings. In the body of the book there is a smaller map: the intention of this is to make clear at a glance where lay the kingdoms of the Elves after the return of the Noldor to Middle-earth. I have not burdened the book further with any sort of commentary or annotation. There is indeed a wealth of unpublished writing by my father concerning the Three Ages, narrative, linguistic, historical, and philosophical, and I hope that it will prove possible to publish some of this at a later date. In the difficult and doubtful task of preparing the text of the book I was very greatly assisted by Guy Kay, who worked with me in 1974-1975. Christopher Tolkien

       故事以主人公查尔斯的视角展开，描写了伦敦近郊布赖兹赫德庄园一个天主教家庭的生活和命运。这个家族老一代的马奇梅因侯爵在第一次世界大战期间去国外参加战争，战后没有回国，长期和他的意大利情妇在威尼斯同居。他的妻子马奇梅因夫人住在伦敦，夫妻不睦，按照天主教规定，夫妻不能离婚，事实上他们长期分居。 　　他们的长子布赖兹赫德是未来爵位和庄园的继承人（与庄园同名），却生性怪僻。而次子塞巴斯蒂安和故事叙述人查尔斯是牛津大学的同窗好友，一生经历坎坷，流落异国。大女儿朱莉娅和小女儿科迪莉娅的一生也跌宕起伏(电影未过多的讲述小女儿的经历)。影片通过这一家人的故事，反映了战后的英国状况，也可以说是西方一般知识分子的思想与遭遇。 　　庄园故事以第三者的角度开始讲述,以查尔斯与庄园主小儿子和大女儿的感情经过为主线,贯以宗教启示（特别是结尾处，老庄园主去世时的划十字手式）。

《贝奥武夫》（Beowulf） 一译贝奥武甫。完成于公元八世纪（约750年左右）的英雄叙事长诗。 全诗共3182行，以斯堪的纳维亚（Scandinavia）（位于北欧的斯堪的纳维亚半岛）的英雄贝奥武夫（Beowulf）的英勇事迹构成主要内容。虽然历史上并未证实确有贝奥武夫其人，但诗中所提及的许多其他人物与事迹却得到印证。 本诗以西撒克斯（Wessex）方言写成，押头韵而不押尾韵，用双字隐喻而不用明喻。是现存古英语文学中最古老的作品，也是欧洲最早的方言史诗。在语言学方面也是相当珍贵的文献。

故事的主人公是陶瓷区亚麻布商的两个女儿康斯坦丝·贝恩斯和索菲亚·贝恩斯。她们出场的时候是19世纪60年代，当时一个十六岁，一个十五岁。康斯坦丝温顺保守，索菲亚奔放迷人。她们的命运也大为不同。康斯坦丝留在家中经营店铺，嫁给了她父亲的助手山姆·波维，生子西里尔，现在寡居。索菲亚随人私奔到巴黎，被抛弃后开始经营一家小小的私人旅店，生意日益兴旺。虽然姐妹俩有着不同的人生际遇，她们的性格还是很相似--节俭、焦虑、坚定。

50年代，托尔斯泰在高加索入伍期间开始了文学创作。处女作《童年》（1852）通过对小主人公伊尔倩耶夫的单纯而又富有诗意的内心世界的细致入微的描摹，出色地表现了一个出身贵族家庭的、聪颖、敏感、感情热烈，并爱作自我分析的儿童的精神成长过程。它与后来作家写就的《少年》和《青年》构成了自传三部曲。并因此托尔斯泰被图格涅夫发现了他的才华，之后成为响誉世界的大作家。 　　列夫·托尔斯泰著作的《幼年》描述了　一八XX年八月十二日……也就是我过十岁生日，得到那么珍奇的礼品以后的第三天，早晨七点钟，卡尔·伊凡内奇用棍子上绑着糖纸做地蝇拍就在我的头上面打苍蝇，把我惊醒了。他打得那么笨，不但碰着了挂在柞木床架上的我的守护神的圣像，而且让死苍蝇一直落到我的脑袋上。我从被子下面伸出鼻子，用手扶稳还在摇摆的圣像，把那只死苍蝇扔到地板上，用虽然睡意惺论、却含着怒意的眼光看了卡尔·伊凡内奇一眼。他呢，身上穿着花布棉袍，腰里束着同样料子做的腰带，头上戴着红毛线织的带缨小圆帽，脚上穿着山羊皮靴，继续顺着墙边走来走去，瞅准苍蝇，啪啪地打着。

每天清晨，羚羊都知道，它必须跑得比最快的狮子快；狮子知道，它必须跑得比最慢的羚羊快。不管是狮子还是羚羊，太阳升起时，都要开始奔跑。地球上的其他哺乳动物都在自由奔跑，难道只有人类是例外？ 墨西哥的铜峡谷，隐居着史上最强的长跑族群塔拉乌马拉人。他们能活下来，是因为父辈跑得比鹿快，而父辈能活下来，是因为祖父跑得比阿帕奇人的战马快。他们永远不知道追赶猎物时要跑多快多久。只有随时调整姿势、方向和速度，敏捷地在石块和沟壑间蹦跳，才能跑过错综的山路，爬上陡峭的岩壁，回家。 塔拉乌马拉人跑，与其说是为了更快，不如说是为了彼此更接近，与自然无限地接近。 原来，人天生就会跑！

The Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H.G. Wells published in 1897. Wells' novel was originally serialised in Pearson's Magazine in 1897, and published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man of the title is Griffin, a scientist who theorises that if a person's refractive index is changed to exactly that of air and his body does not absorb or reflect light, then he will be invisible. He successfully carries out this procedure on himself, but cannot become visible again, becoming mentally unstable as a result.

13岁的布里奥妮·塔利斯拥有十分丰富的想象力，颇有作家天分；管家的锤子罗比在塔利斯先生的奖助下已经与布里奥妮的姐姐塞西莉娅一道从剑桥大学毕业，而且他俩情/投意合。一个炎热夏日，塞西莉娅当着罗比的面，脱去衣服，跳进池塘戏水。这一切都被布里奥妮尽收眼底，恰逢当晚，来塔利斯家小住的布里奥妮的表姐遭人强暴；布里奥妮武断地认定罗比即是罪犯，并出庭做证指控罗比，罗比因此被捕入狱。但坚信他无罪的塞西莉娅不惜与家人断绝关系，执着地与他相爱。五年后，罗比出狱，当时正是二次世界大战期间，他参加到保卫祖国的战斗中，塞西莉娅随后应征入伍，布里奥妮也成为一名军队医务人员。经历世事之后的布里奥妮终于愧疚，主动走向罗比与塞西莉娅，为自己当年的所作所为道歉，但是无情的战争先后夺去了罗比和塞西娅的生命，留下布里奥妮活在深深的自责中而无法赎罪。 麦克恩是英国文坛当前最具影响力的作家之一。自他的第一本短篇小说集《最初的爱情和最后的仪式》获得1975年的毛姆奖以来，他四次获得布克奖提名，并终于在1998年以《阿姆斯行丹》折桂。其新作《赎罪》同样获得 2002年布克奖提我虽然最终未能如愿获奖，但评论界却给予了较之《阿姆斯特丹》更多更动听的溢美之词，认为比《阿》更丰满，更好读，既有讨好读者的动人情节、喜剧因素，又不乏色调，实在是让人爱不释手。